ArchivedLogs:Could Be Worse

Could Be Worse
Dramatis Personae Hanna, Hive, Flicker
In Absentia	2013-10-28 '
Location <NYC> Village Lofts - Rooftop - East Village
It tends to be windy, up here, but the presence of plastic table and folding chairs suggests that nevertheless building residents occasionally make their way out to this rooftop. With a good view of Tompkins Square Park less than a block away it's a good spot for city-watching. There's a railing around the edge, though it might be possible (if /unwise/) to climb over it to the narrow concrete ledges beyond and from there to the fire escape. Centrally, someone has broken down crates and constructed a small raised-bed garden up here, barren in winter but filled in three other seasons with a small assortment of herbs and vegetables. The concrete wall that rings the roof has been decorated, painted in vivid bright shades by some artistic hand to add colourful cheer to the rooftop. The mural shifts in terrain One wall sports a beach, flecked with grass and seashells and driftwood and shore birds. Beach transitions into meadow, colourful with wildflowers and butterflies and dragonflies; meadow shifts into snow-capped mountains, subsides into piedmont and sprouts into a verdant forest on the fourth, alive with animals. The sun is beginning to sink below the skyline of the city, threatening to take with it the last vestiges of warmth from the flat expanse of the rooftop. Brilliant ornages, violets, and fiery red color the faint cloud cover, constantly shifting and changing with the chill breeze that threatens to bring a late fall rain to the area. It is just past dinner time, leaving only a small selection of recently arrived guests sitting on the rooftop, mostly keeping to themselves - the cool evening air isn't exactly encouraging the vast majority to stay outside for long. Hanna has been avoiding the rooftop for the last week, giving breathing room to the parade of unknown people parading past her door for some time - sometimes, she has learned, that it is best not to question what is going on. The Hawaiian woman is currently sitting in a canvas chair in an obnoxious floral print, wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a bright yellow hooded sweatshirt bearing 'Aloha' on the front in a cheery blue font with palm trees. Were she not sitting, it would be possible to see the same word written in a similar font on the lower back of the sweatshirt. Mentally, she's a reflection of the sunset - cheery, warm colors and soothing thoughts blanketing as always a subtle roiling beneath. A plate with asorted pastries - no bakery box in sight - is left mostly untouched on the small table beside her, though a half finished cola is held idly in one hand. She faces the sunset, a pang of homesickness rising like waves through the warm colors of her mind. The door to the roof swings open, admitting two more out into the cool air. Flicker is still dressed like he's been at work, khakis and a dark blue button-down underneath his black corduroy jacket (currently unbuttoned.) He has a backpack over one shoulder and his other hand is currently employed in steering Hive alongside him. The telepath has been bundled up against the autumn chill, Columbia sweatshirt underneath a battered old denim jacket. Where Flicker's emotional scape is bright and warm and cheery, his own is strange, not exactly /flat/ but instead so overflowing with a /myriad/ of so many different emotional states that in the end it just washes out to a static white-noise, too varied to pick up on anything much in particular. Flicker steers Hive over towards one of the folding chairs at the roof's everpresent old table, offering Hanna a warm, if apologetic, smile. "You mind if we sit?" From Hive there is nothing; his eyes are glazed-over, vacant, not much to be read in his kind of slack expression. For all he's checked-out physically, mental senses are more acutely alert than ever, his crowd of mental drones heightening psionic senses into an unintentional perma-eavesdropping. The sound of the door opening draws Hanna's attention briefly, and she glances over her shoulder, warm, ever present smile still on her lips. For a moment, confusion and a mental catalog of people she has seen around the building lately, before recognition dawns on her features, barely a ripple in her relatively placid mind. A flicker of concern skitters across her mind's surface when she recognizes Hive, concern over the seemingly vacant stare. The question gets a slightly startled look, and she blinks up at Flicker with a friendly smile, responding brightly, "Oh, certainly. Room enough for all." As Hive is brought closer, the woman winces very faintly at the emotional white noise, looking between the two men, before asking in a light tone, attempting to be neighborly, "Is everything alright?" "Oh --" Flicker's smile stays in place as he guides Hive to a chair, nudges him gently to settle him into it, but there's an echo of concern in him as well, twining into a deep knot of worry in the pit of his stomach. "Just been one of those months, I guess. Some go harder than others, you know?" He pulls one of the other plastic folding chairs nearer to Hive, taking a seat himself. "How've things been going for you? Everything alright at the bakery?" Hive moves pliably where he's guided, neither putting up resistance nor taking much initiative in movements, just settling where Flicker places him, his hands falling to his sides. << Alright. >> It's just a quiet mental whisper, almost easy to overlook save for its peculiar sussuration of many-voices in chorus. A soft background /crowd/ lingering in fading mental echo; it's kind of /fitting/ for the Halloween season. "Seems like damn near every month is threatening to be just 'one of those months' anymore," Hanna says dryly, taking a sip from her soda when she pauses. She offers a slight smile in response to the question of the bakery, her eyes fading to a sedate hazel color, "Been one of those months, I suppose. Not as many scuffles, mostly due to a bit of a dip in customers." One hand runs along her hair, tugging at the ponytail in a nervous gesture, her mind a swirl of quiet days, "It happens. Picked up a bit today - orders for Halloween goods and suchforth. Party season." The whispering crowd of mental voices actually makes Hanna jump visibly, the serenity of her mindscape becoming momentarily prickly as she glances at Hive in confusion. She recovers well enough, though, her mind still rippling softly from the shock. Her smile brightens and she gestures to the plate of baked goods, "Right. Help yourself if you'd like a cupcake or pastry. Vegan cupcakes are off to the side away from the others if you want that kind." "Kinda does feel like that, doesn't it? But it can't stay like this forever." Flicker sounds quietly confident in this. He considers the plate of pastries for a moment thoughtfully, then leans forward to take a cupcake off of it, not bothering with the vegan ones. He unpeels the wrapper carefully, setting it down on its wrapper on the table. His nose wrinkles at Hanna's jumping. "Sorry. He's just -- having a --" He frowns, not really finishing this explanation; his quiet deep worry creeps back in beneath the warmth. Hive's chorusing whisper of mental voice returns, soft echoing cadence and his continued complete lack of external response making his words seem to come from everywhere more than from /him/. << Might. Stay. Forever. Why not? >> Flicker's smile presses down into a thin line. He breaks off a small piece of cupcake, turning to nudge fingers gently at Hive's lips. Prodprodprod. Open? "S'a cupcake," he informs Hive. "Do you make special Halloween flavors? We're having a party." "I rather hope it doesn't stay like this forever. The stress levels aren't good for anyone," Hanna says with a sigh, mentally shuddering, the shifting colors of her mind darkening for a moment, as do her irises, briefly. There's a touch of resigned doubt with her statement, images of the grafitti on the front of the bakery, the thugs that had attacked, though she forces the thoughts back into the colorful fog before going further down that path. Hanna tilts her head slightly at the apology, "Hm? Oh. No worries. I knew he could," she taps a temple, rather than actually saying 'telepath' aloud, "Just wasn't aware of that aspect. Just unexpected is all. No worries." She offers a reassuring smile and nods, returning back to the subject of cupcakes, "Oh, yes. The standard pumpkin /everything/ that's around right now for the season. Got some different decorations going, and a "slime" cauldron cupcake for the brave at heart - it's lemon curd with fruit jams in it to turn it a rather, ah, interesting green color. And everything else is still available, just with a bit more autumnal flare on the decorating. Few other ones for the season - couple variations on maple cinnamon - tastes a bit like French toast." She chuckles and shrugs, glancing at Hive with concern when Flicker tries to feed him the cupcake piece - but she keeps the ripple of concern to a minimum beneath the swirl of spooky Halloween colors in her mind that appeared as she spoke on the cupcake subject. "Aspect?" Flicker questions this with a curious lift of eyebrows. His fingers continue to nudge at Hive's lips until they open, at which point he pops the bite of cupcake inside. Though Hive doesn't /eat/ it until Flicker's following quiet prompts: "Chew now. Swallow. -- Oh you mean the creepy ghost voice? There's --" His smile is a little wry. "There's been a /lot/ of people around, sometimes he gets a little lost. I'd totally try the slime that sounds great." Hive chews, and swallows, when he is prompted. << Won't be forever, >> he finally allows. << Only a little bit. Then it'll get worse. >> Hanna grins and snorts, "Good descriptor, I suppose. But yeah - wasn't aware he could do that." She glances at the handful of refugees scattered around the roof, before looking back at Hive and Flicker. "Yeah - been an active building this week. I imagine it can be a bit much," she says, though her thoughts seem to indicate she doesn't have to try too hard to imagine - there's the faintest swell of frightened, anxious emotions not entirely her own that is very quickly smothered again by the roiling, creepily colored fog that makes up her mental scape. She closes her eyes - suddenly darkened - for a long moment, before smiling, the irises returned to their golden coffee color. "If you want, I can bring some back to the building tomorrow for ya. There was a last minute party that pretty much cleared out my Halloween treats today - so I just had the normal stuff." A faint grimace crosses her features, at Hive's comment, "That's what I'm afraid of. Just when things start looking better, the next thing comes along just as bad, and then worse." She wrinkles her nose at this, a growing dread nibbling at the edge of her thoughts. "Think he usually tries to not be creepy at people. Some days it's a little harder than others." Flicker's tone is light, but the sick clench of worry hasn't left him. He waits for Hive to swallow before nudging another piece of cupcakes at his mouth. "Tomorrow, hmm. That might be good, Jax usually bakes things each week for Game Night but he's busier than anyone lately. Can I make a whole order? I have some cash. Could probably spring for two dozen creepy-flavored cupcakes." << Always worse, >> Hive pipes up, creepy-ghost-voice not adding any more cheer to his so-very-upbeat words. << Whole government departments now. Just dedicated to killing us. >> Flicker closes his eyes, hand dropping after guiding Hive through his next bite of cupcake. He reaches to put one of Hive's hands and then the other in Hive's lap, exhaling slowly. "Just /one/ agency," he says with a crooked smile. "Could be worse." Hanna giggles faintly, shaking her head, her voice light, reassuring, "Oh. No worries, really. Sometimes creepy happens - I know that well enough." She makes a vague gesture at herself and her eyes, which have once again shiften color to an uneasy hazel, shrugging faintly. There's an echo of concern from her mind, the fear of distrust, fear of alienation float to the surface briefly. One dark eyebrow raises at the government department commentary, snorting faintly, "Just one? Could be worse. Could be just the one, that you know of. Trying to destroy the lot of us." Her tone and mind takes an uncharacteristically cynnical edge, a flash of remembered fear of a military base, men in uniform. She shudders, visibly, tucking her hands into the pocket of her obnoxiously colored hoodie. She sighs, and forces a bright smile back onto her face, the expression bringing with it a return of warmer, happier thoughts and colors in her mind. "Sure - two dozen's no worry. dozen vegan, dozen standard? Or a different ratio? I've got vegan versions of the cinnamon maple, and the pumpkin, as well as spooky variations on my normal assortment. Regular cupcakes, I've got pumpkin spice, maple, apple pie, slime cauldrons, and a few other normal ones." She grins brightly, tilting her head a touch, "I love Halloween - I've been planning these recipes all year." There's a pause, and she nods, "I can have them for tomorrow. Or another day if you'd rather. Entirely up to you - schedule is decently open this week." A pang of worry at that, which is quickly stiffled. << One that we know -- is after /us/, >> Hive clarifies, no emotions really carrying through his soft words. Flicker has emotions to /spare/, though, scarred face screwing up in a grimace as he drops his head to rest at Hive's temple. His slow deep breaths are an attempt to calm them, clamp down on the fear and worry (and fear) and stress (and fear). "Jax loves maple /everything/. Dusk loves pumpkin. Maybe a dozen of the vegan and the rest -- whatever assortment seems properly Halloweeny. Could make the order for Thursday instead and bump it to three dozen instead of two, there'll be more Halloween people over then." Hive doesn't quite manage a smile, but there's a quiet hint more amusement in what passes for his tone when he adds, << We love Halloween. >> There's a mental image of Dusk that surfaces here, with his giant bat-wings; the twins and their blue skin and shark-teeth, Horus's birdlike face. << Less worrying, outside. >> Hanna looks worried at Flicker, a frown creasing her plump features at the wave of emotion coming off the young man, the emotions rippling through her mental scape like rocks cast into a pond. "Oh. Sweetie, are you ok? I..." her worried voice trails off, and she looks for a moment like she might offer a hug, in fact actually considering that, for all the good it would do, "I didn't mean to... I'm sorry. And now I'm being creepy." She bows her head slightly in apology, coffee colored eyes looking over Flicker with an almost motherly concern. She nods slowly, and listens to the order, "Hm. If you bump it to Thursday, I can take a lot more time doing the prep work for the decorations, and it'll be even more spook-tacular." She smiles impishly at the horrible pun, but the smile broadens at Hive's input, "Halloween is a great time of year. If it weren't for the fact that the first frost hit already, Jayna has a really amazing dryad costume in the Greek tradition. She doesn't like to wear it if she's bald by Halloween, though. Not sure what she's planning this year now." Hanna's description calls forth a pleasant memory of Jayna, laughing, dressed in a Greecian style column dress in brilliant orange, gold, and brown, her long frond-like hair a blaze of autumn colors. "Oh," Flicker breathes this out on a quiet laugh, the brief smile pushing worry back off his face. "You're not being creepy. I don't think it's creepy to worry. Sorry, I've just --" He doesn't immediately move from where he's been resting his head against Hive's, but after a while he finally lifts his head. He takes the next bite of cupcake for himself. "Sometimes things are just -- a lot --" He shakes his head, closing his eyes and momentarily savoring the sweetness on his tongue. "Thursday'd be awesome. And you guys are more than welcome to come by if you end up having the time. It's kind of informal just -- tons of food and people and --" He shrugs a shoulder. "Go out to the park and enjoy actually being out in public without the world freaking out. Don't know if you've ever seen what he can do but Jax puts on a great fireworks show, too." Hive's fingers twitch, when Flicker moves aside. There's a faint mental brush, up against Hanna's mind, a feather-light touch at that image of Jayna. << Great time of year, >> he agrees softly. And then, still more softly: << He likes hugs. >> This almost sounds wistful, a tiny flicker of unhappy regret. His hands twitch again, but don't actually manage to make it out of his lap. Hanna regards Flicker with a soft smile, her voice quiet, "Don't apologize for being stressed, or scared, it's ok. Everyone gets a bit overwhelmed sometimes - it's, well, the nature of life." There's a pause, at the quiet commentary from Hive, and Hanna tilts her head at Flicker, extricating her hands from the pocket of her hoodie, and smiling. "Would you like a hug?" she offers, half shrugging, half holding her arms up in an offer to the young man - her intentions entirely innocent - he seems stressed. Hugs help that, right? If it looks like he is going to take her up on the offer, there's a faint mental brace, as though preparing for emotional impact. The invitation to the party gets a chuckle and a smile, "Thursday it is. We'll at the very least make an appearance to drop the cupcakes off." Mention of Jax gets a bemused smile, "No, I haven't, but from the sounds of it he's a bit of a jack of all trades, and then some. Jayna and I will certainly stop by. It'd be the neighborly thing to do." She grins broadly, her thoughts warm, perhaps just a touch on the June Cleaver side in the cheery thought of getting to talk to neighbors again. Flicker looks surprised, for a moment, at the offer, but then he smiles. Quick and warm, and leans out of his chair to curl wiry arms around Hanna in acceptance of this hug; the worry and stress inside him is still strong, though the hug quiets it some. "Thanks," he says with a faint blush as he settles back into his seat. "And Jax is --" He blushes deeper, at this. "Pretty great. -- Thursday evening, then? Oh, gosh, I haven't even decided yet what I'm wearing." Hive is quiet, here. But there's a soft touch against Hanna's mind that seems a lot like gratitude, for delivering that hug when he cannot. Hanna smiles, carefully returning the hug, comforting and warm - smelling a bit like fresh baked cookies and sugar - like some sort of idealized 50s housewife (aside from being a plump little Hawaiian woman). During the hug the stress and worry from Flicker seeming to impact against the swirling colors of Hanna's mind, like rain washing away snow, granting a glimpse at the tightly controlled, ball of raw emotions that roils beneath the serene surface of her thought. When the hug ends, it seems to take a long moment for her to pull her thoughts and cover back into place, taking a deep breath. "Sometimes, hugs are just a good thing," she says with a bright smile, her eyes a sparkling golden brown as she settles back into her chair, glancing to Hive with a mental nod in response to the gratitude. She smiles brightly, thoughts welling up with warmth and cheer at the thought of costumes, "Should probably see about doing that sooner than later." She smirks, and starts to rise from her seat, folding her canvas chair back up, "Alrighty. I'll have the cupcakes to bring by on Thursday evening in the park. See you then." She nods to Hive with a sympathetic smile, "I've gotta get back in before Jayna starts wondering if I got lost up here. Feel free to share the cupcakes around if you'd like to this evening." She bows slightly, slinging her chair over her soulder and heading for the door with a cheery wave towards the two young men.